Apple and Chinese environmental group to audit factory due to pollution concerns

Apple, alongside a Chinese environmental group, will audit one of its supplier’s factories in China for the first time, IDG News Service reported on Monday. The Beijing-based Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs announced that Apple had agreed to the joint audit, which will be carried out at the end of the month. Apple will hire an independent auditing firm that will investigate the pollution created by one of its circuit boards manufacturers. The audit will be a pilot project meant for one factory, but the environmental group hopes Apple will agree to more joint audits in the future. “We think this is a very positive step made by Apple,” said Wang Jing Jing, vice director of IPE. “We hope this won’t simply be a pilot project, but that more open inspections will continue.” The results of the audit will be made available online later this year.